OMG! Ubuntu

The go-to media player of millions, VLC 2.2 ‘Weathermax’ was released this weekend and brings some nifty new features to the desktop.

As teased previously, the desktop release now includes a built-in extension gallery. Adding extra features to VLC is now no more than a few clicks away (Tools > Plugins and Extensions).

Playback resume is another handy feature long requested. The ‘Continue Playback?’ prompt appears when re-opening a video or audio file and sees the desktop build gain parity with its mobile kin.

The popular open-source media player adds a much needed fix for a real life bug: it auto-rotates videos recorded on a smartphone or tablet.

There’s also the usual crop of codec updates including support for Ultra HD, VP9, H.265 and ‘compatibility’ fixes for a range of obscure file formats.

Other changes include GPU zero-copy decoding (a hardware-based tweak said to deliver much faster performance where applicable), support for ‘Digital Cinema Package’ used by movie theaters and experimental support for Interactive Blu-Ray menus.

Lastly, on the quirky side there are three new video filters to play with when you’re bored: ‘old movie’, ‘VHS effect’ and ‘freeze effect’.

Install VLC 2.2 in Ubuntu

VLC 2.2 is a free download for Windows, Mac, Linux and a slew of mobile platforms, including Windows Phone, Android and iOS.

Ubuntu users can install or upgrade to VLC 2.2 by using the official VLC PPA:

As exciting as this release may be it’s the upcoming VLC 3.0 that will really get people talking as, among other things, it promises to offer native Chromecast support and big improvements for use on Wayland displays.

Two years and ten months in development, this weekend saw the release of Xfce 4.12.

The latest version of the light Xfce desktop and related software continues to use GTK2+ but adds plenty of new features, usability improvements and bug fixes to make it feel fresh.

Client Side Decorations in Xfce 4.12

Chief among the new features in Xfce 4.12 is initial support for Client Side Decorations (like those found in apps like Geary), a new Alt+Tab window switcher with window previews, a panel that can intelligently hide, support GTK3 applets and more.

Other notable changes include better support for HiDPI displays thanks to a new Xfwm theme, better support for multiple monitor setups, including per-desktop wallpapers, and better support for window tiling mode thanks to new features like zoom mode.

You’ll also find more tweaks and additions in the Thunar File Manager, which gains tabbed browsing, better loading times, keyboard shortcuts, and so on.

Although probably not recommended just yet (early doors and all that) the Xubuntu Development PPA contains pre-release builds of Xfce 4.12 for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and 14.10 users to install from at their own risk.

Add the Xubuntu Dev PPA to Ubuntu’s Software Sources using a Terminal and the following commands (assuming the Xfce desktop is already installed):

Ubuntu for Phones may not quite have turn-by-turn navigation smarts on hand, but it does boast some real-time traffic data thanks to a partnership with INRIX. The company will provide traffic, incident and parking reports for the world’s first Ubuntu smartphone, helping users stay up-to-date with planned routes. “By providing incident updates, parking location and availability information […]